Jeff Adair: Homeless determined to make it

When you hear certain stories or read statistics like the high pregnancy, school dropout rates, or criminal activity among teens in the inner-city, it's really not surprising.

Jeff Adair

When you hear certain stories or read statistics like the high pregnancy, school dropout rates, or criminal activity among teens in the inner-city, it's really not surprising.

As a nation, we've somehow come to expect this. A bad environment breeds trouble. In some families, one generation after another gets stuck in a cycle of poverty, mainly caused by their own mistakes.

That said, sometimes self-efficacy comes into play. A person, no matter his or her circumstances, has the fortitude to keep their or her eye on the prize, and plow until they reach their goal.

The other day, the Los Angeles Times had a wonderful example of this in telling the story of 18-year-old Khadijah Williams, a homeless girl heading to Harvard University this fall on a full academic scholarship.

A native of Brooklyn and born to a 14-year-old, Williams has spent the majority of her life in California. It's been an unsettled life. With her mother and sister, she has floated from one shelter, motel and armory, over and over again.

She attended 12 different schools on the West Coast in 12 years. She finished only half the fourth grade, half the fifth, and she skipped the sixth grade.

She lived out of garbage bags, among pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers, the story said.

She had to learn how to hunt for meals.

Although she was part of gifted programs in schools she attended, she was an outsider. At the shelter, the story said she was often bullied. 'You ain't college-bound," the pimps barked. "You live in Skid Row!"

She kept pushing, and pushing. She enrolled in programs during her sophomore year that opened the doors to college. Mentors helped her write college essays, and taught her basic money management, table manners, and grooming skills.

In her junior year, tired of moving around, she woke up at 4 a.m. and commuted by bus from the Orange County Armory to school. She also participated on the debate team and in track, often returning at 11 p.m.

"I was so proud of being smart," she told the Times. "I never wanted people to say, 'You got the easy way out because you're homeless. I never saw it as an excuse.' "

In fact, until the story was published, few people at her school knew her background.

Williams' story is inspiring. It would be great if every child had the inner drive, a can-do attitude to overcome obstacles. There's nothing, however, from a public policy standpoint we can do to make this happen.

The key is for parents to do their part, making sure their children work hard and take school seriously. The government must pitch in by helping the homeless obtain stable housing, assist mothers and fathers who need to improve their parenting skills, and to make sure every school has the tools to teach children from all walks of life.

One can quibble over strategies, line items in local or state budgets. We can quibble over things like the Massachusetts policy in which 751 homeless families and an untold number of children, are now housed in 39 motels at a cost of roughly $2,550 a month.

But we have to come to grips that it's going to cost us some money. We can either pay now, or deal with the expensive consequences later.

Jeff Adair is a Daily News editor and reporter. He can be reached at jadair@cnc.com.